Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer was locked in at the plate on Thursday afternoon.
The 22-year-old infielder and blue-chip talent teed off against Tigers pitching during Grapefruit League play — going 3-for-3 at the plate in Boston’s 6-5 win over Detroit.
Mayer — who hit third in Boston’s lineup behind fellow top prospects Roman Anthony and Kristian Campbell — came just a double short of a cycle on Thursday, slugging a home run and driving in three runs in the win.
Mayer opened the scoring for Boston in the first inning against Detroit starter Jack Flaherty, closing out an eight-pitch at-bat by smoking a pitch 408 feet out to center for a triple — driving in Campbell in the process.
After singling to shallow center field in the fourth, Mayer once again doled out damage against the Tigers in the following frame — depositing an offering from Kenta Maeda into right field for a two-run home run.
“You can tell the moment is not big. He’s very comfortable in the environment,” manager Alex Cora told reporters, including WEEI’s Rob Bradford, of Mayer’s game. “He’s a good player. I truly believe — I was talking to (game planning and run prevention coach Jason Varitek) — the higher the level the better he is going to be.
“Sometimes people don’t talk about him. Kind of like he’s the forgotten one. He’s still a freaking good player. We’re going to move him around. He will play short (Friday). He’s going to keep getting at-bats. It’s fun to be around him, too.”
Mayer — who is currently tabbed by MLB.com as the No. 12 prospect in baseball — likely needs more seasoning in the minor leagues before earning a shot against MLB competition this summer.
Even though Mayer earned a call-up to Triple-A Worcester last season, lingering injuries prevented him from playing a single game with Worcester before being shut down for the year.
But even with those injury concerns, Mayer still batted .307 with eight home runs and 38 RBI over 77 games with Portland in 2024.
If Thursday’s performance is a sign of things to come, Mayer may not need all that much time down in the minors this year — a welcome sight for a Red Sox team that is also awaiting the arrivals of Campbell and Anthony.